Arts & Life

When Bad Things Happen to Good Proverbs

By Liane Hansen

Published August 14, 2004 at 11:00 PM CDT

Those old sayings we love to quote often lose precision -- and attribution -- as they enter into common use. Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Jesse Sheidlower, editor of the North American Editorial Unit of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Arts & Life

Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.